CaresIssue 005
2008 Summer / South Africa
No matter how small the part
No matter how small the service
In it lies the philosophy
Which makes a Hino, a Hino.
We at Hino
Will never stop our working hands
So that our customers can be happy
with their choice
“I’m glad we chose Hino”.
The “hand” is also a “heart.”
HINO Cares Hand
We are going to use exceptional levels of customer service to assist in meeting the ambitious sales targets for HINO in South Africa.
Donald Moekena, Truck Technical Instructor, Toyota Trucks’ training academy, South Africa
Piet van Wyk de Vries, Vice President, Toyota Trucks, South Africa
Itumeleng Segage, Manager, Truck Promotions, Toyota Trucks, South Africa
Donald Moekena, a Truck Technical Instructor at Toyota Trucks in
South Africa, has such a passion for satisfying customers that he
became an instructor soon after completing his apprenticeship
as a diesel technician at a truck dealership. “I knew that I could
make a much bigger difference by passing on my knowledge to
other truck dealership technicians as an instructor rather than
by remaining as one of a group of technicians at a dealership,”
explained the enthusiastic 25-year-old.
“I have such a thirst for gaining knowledge that I attend as
many relevant training courses as I can. This has included the
international TTEP (Toyota Technical Education Program) that I
completed immediately after the three and a half years I spent
qualifying as a diesel technician at McCarthy Toyota Trucks
Midrand/Selby – the company that has just won the Toyota Truck
Dealer of the Year award for the second consecutive year.”
Training has a very high profi le at Toyota Trucks in South Africa,
because it has been proven to be the golden key to obtaining the
highest customer care rating among all the major truck brands
in South Africa – as happened at the end of the fourth quarter of
2007.
This quarterly survey by Scot Byers placed Toyota Trucks fi rst
overall in terms of the Comparative Customer Satisfaction
Monitor (CCSM). The company also placed fi rst in the parts
and service categories and a close third in sales. This detailed
research is based on replies from between 3,000 and 4,000
respondents and covers 13 makes of truck marketed in South
Africa.
“Our record vehicle sales and outstanding customer satisfaction
performances in 2007 have provided ideal building blocks for
2008 and we are looking to another very successful year of
continued growth this year,” commented Toyota Trucks’ Vice
President, Piet van Wyk de Vries.
The truck market in South Africa is continuing to boom after
setting new monthly and annual sales records in the past two
years, even though there has been a slowdown in the sales of
cars and light-duty trucks. The increase in business in the truck
market is putting increased pressure on dealership facilities,
manufacturers’ production capacity and the staff at the dealers
and the head offi ces of the various truck manufacturers and
distributors. The growing South African market is also attracting
newcomers from all over the world, including several from the
rapidly growing truck manufacturers of China and India.
“We are building a dedicated truck dealer network from our
current outlets that includes 170 Toyota car and light-duty truck
dealers that also sell our medium-duty trucks. In the process we
are getting the selected truck dealers to upgrade and enlarge their
facilities to cater for the growing sales. Our future planning is to
have dedicated 65 truck dealers, with 44 of them offering the full
service of sales, service and parts, while 21 outlets will provide
service and parts only. All of them will be in strategic locations
to ensure excellent overage over the wide geographic area that
makes up South Africa and its immediate neighbors – Botswana,
Namibia and Swaziland.”
Toyota Trucks aims to increase sales in South Africa signifi cantly
in the next few years, moving from the current level of selling
5,000 units annually to 10,000 units a year in fi ve years. The
HINO 500 series has sold well in the South African medium-duty
truck market (8,501kg to 16,500kg) and additional derivatives of
the HINO 700 series will be added to that range through to 2009
to support a planned increase in sales in the heavy-duty truck
category, which is currently the fastest growing segment in the
overall local truck market.
The company’s vision is to be the “fi rst choice of professional
truck operators.”
Hino is made by people.
“Our future planning is to have dedicated 65 truck dealers, with 44 of them offering the full service of sales, service and parts, while 21 outlets will provide service and parts only.”
HINO’s Service
I believe in treating all people with respect in both my business and personal life and I encourage my team members to adopt this philosophy as a way of life too.
Johan Kruger, Dealer Principal of McCarthy Toyota Trucks - Midrand/Selby
“I set great store by continual measurement of all aspects
of my operation at McCarthy Toyota Trucks – Midrand/
Selby as this feedback information allows me to manage
the improvement of the levels of service we provide to our
customers,” says the dealer principal Johan Kruger. “Proof
that this strategy works is evidenced by the fact that we have
just won the Toyota Trucks’ Dealer of the Year title for the
second consecutive year.”
“My team and I analyzed the 2006 Pyramid of Excellence
(POE) scoring that gave us out fi rst Dealer of the Year trophy
so that we could strengthen our weak areas for the 2007
evaluations and I am sure that this approach was a part of our
wining recipe. We then examined our scores for the fi rst 2007
POE measurement, in April last year, and used this as a ‘radar
screen’ to pinpoint areas that required further attention before
the fi nal scoring in October.”
“We are certainly not going to become complacent now that
we have won this premier award for two years in a row. We
see our success as an encouragement to try and do even
better in the future. The target I am now setting for my team is
to make it a ‘hat-trick’ with a third consecutive trophy,” added
the proud and enthusiastic principal, who heads up a team of
43 people in a truck dealership that operates from two sites
about 15km apart.
Kruger is very supportive of all the relevant training courses
offered by Toyota Trucks as well as the internal courses
designed specifi cally for his McCarthy dealer group.
“I am particularly keen on those courses that pertain to
improving customer satisfaction, as satisfi ed customers are
the real key to making a success of our business. I believe
in treating all people with respect in both my business and
personal life and I encourage my team members to adopt this
philosophy as a way of life too,” explains Kruger. “I insist that
all my team members focus on building relationships with their
colleagues as well as our external customers.
Besides being set very challenging sales targets by Toyota
Trucks for 2007 the team at McCarthy Toyota Trucks –
Midrand/Selby achieved 94% of its medium-duty truck target
and exceeded its HINO target with a score of 107%.
Added to sales success is the all-important and previously
mentioned independent customer satisfaction measurement
of the dealership’s sales, service and parts.
The company shone in all departments in this measurement
too, achieving 97.4% for sales (up from 94.2% a year
previously), 95.9% for service (slightly down on the score
of 97% in 2006) and 95% for parts (up from 93.3% a year
earlier). Overall CSI rating for 2007 was an outstanding
96.09% compared to a national average of 91.7%. (All
these measurements are made by the Scott Byers research
company in relation to meeting customer expectations.)
However, Kruger says that all these achievements cannot be
made at the expense of profi t, which is another Dealer of the
Year yardstick. “It’s a balancing act where we strive to absorb
overhead costs through profi t in parts and service, while
investing time and effort in satisfying our customers’ needs,”
explained dealer principal Kruger.
McCarthy Toyota Trucks – Midrand/Selby is growing so fast
that the dealerships are bursting out of their present premises
in Midrand and Selby, in the Johannesburg CBD. Plans have
been drawn up already for new premises near the current site
in Midrand, with a new facility in Selby planned for erection
in two years’ time. The major benefi t will be in trebling
the servicing capacity, which is vital in satisfying growing
customer needs.
Hino, where services also continue to evolve.
“I am particularly keen on those courses that pertain to improving customer satisfaction, as satisfi ed customers are the real key to making a success of our business.”
Barloworld Logistics operates one of the most demanding
transport and logistics undertakings in South Africa and it has
entrusted the critical transport component of its operation to a
fl eet of 26 HINO trucks and 25 Afrit Tautliner trailers.
This complex undertaking, headquartered in Johannesburg, acts
as a cross-docking and long distance transport facilitator for
Toyota South Africa’s manufacturing facility, near Durban, about
600km away. This is the biggest vehicle manufacturing plant in
Africa and has recently had its capacity increased to be able to
produce 220,000 units a year at a rate of about 1,000 units a day.
A vital part of the manufacturing process is the just-in-time
delivery of a wide range of components to the factory. The trucks
transporting the components have to arrive at the designated
unloading dock at the plant within a fi ve minute “window” of an
ideal arrival time. Even a few seconds either side of the “window”
is recorded as a “non-achievement.” Currently Barloworld
Logistics is operating at an amazing 97% achievement of
delivery times. This resulted in the company being honored with
the “Supplier Award for Achievement in Delivery” at Toyota South
Africa’s recent 2007 Supplier of the Year function.
“Being involved with such a key operation means that we
require trucks that are extremely reliable, as we cannot afford
breakdowns on the road or downtime for repairs,” stresses
Barloworld Logistics’ Depot Manager, José da Silva. “Using
HINO trucks was not a pre-requisite of us being awarded the
Toyota contract. It was a decision based on the known reliability
and low operating costs of the HINO brand.”
Seven HINO 500 series 33-254 4x2 truck-tractors and two
15-258 rigid freight-carriers are used to collect components
from about 30 manufacturers in the Gauteng province. These
components are then consolidated at a central warehouse
and loaded onto interlink trailers, which are hauled to and from
Durban by 12 HINO 700 series 57-450 6x4 truck-tractors. Each
of the big rigs has a turnaround time of 24 hours and their
engines run for 22 hours a day. Each one-way trip takes 10
hours, with 1.5 hours to off-load and 9 hours to get back to base
so the trailer can be reloaded for the next trip. This averages out
at about 210 long-haul loads a month.
Depot Manager da Silva says the fl eet’s running costs are living
up to HINO’s reputation, with fuel consumption on the long-haul
rigs averaging 45ℓ/100km when loaded (up to 30 tons). The
HINO trucks have also proved very economical in terms of tire
wear.
“Safety is paramount in our operation and this extends from
regular checks on the trucks and trailers to ongoing driver
training, including a quarterly competition that enjoys material
support from Toyota Trucks,” explained the Depot Manager.
“Besides having reliable and economical trucks we also enjoy
exceptional service back-up from the dealers – particularly Pat
Hinde Boksburg – and the team at Toyota Trucks. Being such
a key operation we cannot afford any delays. When we have a
problem we need action – fast! This is the type of service we
enjoy from our partners,” concluded a satisfi ed Jose da Silva.
The real vote of confi dence in the HINO brand is the fact that
Barloworld Logistics has chosen to replace the current fl eet of
long haul truck-tractors – some with more than 700,000km on
the odometer - with 12 new HINO 700 series. The HINO 500
series truck-tractors and rigid freight carriers will be replaced in
2010, when they will have covered about 300,000km on short
haul routes.
“A further indication of our satisfaction with HINO trucks is that
we are in the process of buying another four to use on a new
contract we have just secured with Toyota’s National Parts
Distribution Center,” added an impressed Jose da Silva.
Hino, because there are reasons to be selected.
HINO Owner’s Voice
We chose HINO because of its reputation for reliability and low running costs – it was not a pre-requisite to getting a key Toyota contract.
Jose da Silva, Depot Manager, Barloworld Logistics
“Being such a key operation we cannot afford any delays. When we have a problem we need action – fast! This is the type of service we enjoy from our partners.”
HINO Technology
Hino’s styling and design philosophy was born from its pursuit of “low fuel consumption technologies.”
HINO has been focusing its endeavors on applying “low fuel
economy technologies” in making excellent trucks for the
global market. A two-pronged strategy has been adopted
in pursuit of low fuel economy: Improvement of the engine’s
thermal effi ciency and reduction of the vehicle’s driving
resistance. In this article, we focus on the latter, the reduction
of the vehicles’ driving resistance. There are three types of
resistance that vehicles encounter: accelerating resistance,
rolling resistance, and air resistance. Although reduction of
these three types of resistance is a short cut to reducing fuel
consumption, it is not simple to achieve. For example, while
styling and design improvements are the most effective way
of reducing air resistance, which makes up the bulk of driving
resistance, it took us more than eight years testing a variety
of trial designs to achieve our air resistance targets before we
were able to fi nalize the styling for the HINO 700 series.
First, we conducted aerodynamic tests in Japan using 1/5
and 2/5 scale models. However, HINO directors insisted that
“real aerodynamic development for achieving our targets
can only be conducted on real (actual size) vehicles,” so we
transported a 1/1 model to Holland and conducted our fi nal
evaluations there. For these tests, we transported the chassis
from Japan and the cab from Italy, where we were building
our aerodynamic test models, and these were assembled in
Holland. The process leading up to the tests was an ongoing
process of various adjustments. Interactions across national
borders and language barriers, as well as the traveling
involved alone presented formidable challenges.
In addition, the pursuit of new forms gave rise to discord
within our own company. Not only did designers make
proposals that went beyond precedents, but they were often
seen persuading and negotiating with various departments
within the company to bring their proposals to fruition. Only
because of the passion and conviction of these designers
and engineers to deliver new values to our customers, and
the many years of trial and error that were invested in its
development, has the HINO 700 series been endowed with its
emotional styling, which gives a sense of speed and infl ection,
and is a clear departure from the square and boxy image of
traditional commercial vehicles. The tapered shape at the
front end of the cab and the radius of its corners were derived
from the ultimate balance between optimum aerodynamics
and driver comfort.
The HINO 700 series’ styling and design philosophy that
achieves both economy and aesthetic beauty has been
inherited by all subsequent HINO products. HINO’s state-
of-the-art aerodynamic cabs, which prove their economic
effi ciency on every drive, have a styling that has been infused
with a distinguished presence and grace of which drivers
will be proud. All these benefi ts have accrued from HINO’s
determined pursuit of “low fuel consumption technologies.”
All technology is used to create the best Hino for you.
The HINO 700 series’ styling and design philosophy that achieves both economy and aesthetic beauty has been inherited by all subsequent HINO products.
Eco driving for maximizing HINO’s
potential
Part 1: Tips for take-off and acceleration
In addition to providing our customers with high-quality products,
we at HINO are making efforts towards enhancing the various
services that we offer. Our hope and goal is to remain a reliable
partner for our customers, anywhere, anytime. This is why HINO
always makes efforts towards keeping a mindful eye on what
our customers have in mind and translating these fi ndings into
specifi c services. One such service that derives from this effort is
the guidance service we provide in several countries for aiming at
contributing to fuel effi cient driving. While this service has been
very popular, it is also true, unfortunately, that we have not been
able to offer the service in all countries in which we operate. So
we would like to introduce our readers to some of the fuel saving
techniques that we promote in these seminars over four issues of
HINO Cares.
While HINO puts a lot of thought and care about the environment
and fuel effi ciency, drivers can further improve their fuel effi ciency
by incorporating certain driving techniques. We are certain that
you will come to a new realization regarding HINO’s potential
once you learn to incorporate these driving techniques. Let’s
take a look at Table 1 which shows the various elements that
affect fuel effi ciency. The table clearly shows that the way we
drive has the highest impact on fuel effi ciency. What then should
we keep in mind when we drive? The primary modes that we can
address to improve fuel effi ciency are take-off and acceleration,
normal driving, and deceleration. In this issue, we would like
to focus on take-off and acceleration. First of all, keep in mind
that the acceleration pedal should be pressed down lightly and
slowly during take-off or acceleration. Don’t step down on the
pedal more than necessary. As a guideline, in large trucks, you
need not step on the pedal by more than 80% of its overall
travel, and in the case of mid-sized and small trucks not by more
than 50%. Also, make sure you shift up in good time within the
green zone on your tachometer where the engine rotation is not
very high. This is because the green zone represents a range
where the engine can produce the same power output at lower
fuel consumption levels. As you can see, while none of this
requires special techniques, you will be able to save your fuel
costs when compared to traditional driving methods (based on
HINO research). For example, let’s take a look at a test that we
conducted in May 2008 to verify the effects that driving methods
have on fuel effi ciency. We compared data from a truck that
was driven ‘defensively’ by a trainer using proper techniques for
braking, clutch operating, and shifting, with that of a truck that
was driven routinely by the driver of a local corporation. The
trucks made a round trip between Johannesburg and Durban.
While the truck that was driven by the untrained driver spent 575
liters for this trip, the other one driven by the trainer used only
535 liters for a saving of 40 liters. If the corporation operates 12
trucks each making 6 round trips per week on the same route, it
may theoretically be possible to save 2,880 liters weekly, 11,520
liters monthly, and 138,240 liters annually. This clearly illustrates
how fuel-conscious driving can improve your economic
effi ciency.
You can begin implementing fuel-conscious driving today. Please
implement these methods as soon as you can to not only reduce
your environmental footprint, but also improve your economic
effi ciency. (In our next issue, we would like to focus on fuel-
conscious driving tips for normal driving)
*Hino Motors does not insure the information regarding fuel consumption in
this magazine as the result may differ depending on loading, driving, road
surfacing and other factors that may affect the vehicle.
HINO Fascination
The Commercial Vehicle Show was held for three days, from
April 15 through 17, in Birmingham, UK. This auto show is the
UK’s largest and most popular showcase of commercial vehicles,
attracting a broad range of people in the UK transportation sector
including fl eet engineers, transportation companies, fl eet/logistics
managers, as well as owners. The show is well established as
a venue where visitors can gather new information and discuss
business. This year’s show was held at a large venue with over
90,000m2 of fl oor space, responding to the number of visitors
which has continued to grow yearly. While this was only HINO’s
third participation in the show, we believe the brand has already
become one of the main draws. In addition to its existing HINO
700 and 300 series, the HINO booth attracted the attention of
visitors with its new HINO 500 series, which is slated for launch
this fi scal year, and a reference exhibit of a Dutro Hybrid. In
particular, visitors to the booth were interested in the hybrid
model since this was not simply a concept model but an actual
production vehicle – albeit for the Japanese market. Many visitors
were keen to read the vehicle descriptions.
Appreciation for HINO’s Excellent Potential Confi rmed at UK’s Birmingham
Commercial Vehicle Show
HINO Product InsightsFile 5: HINO 700 Series
Trucks with the Hino name, trucks we are proud of.
Hino Motors, Ltd.Address: 1-1 Hinodai 3-chome, Hino-shi, Tokyo, 191-8660, JapanGlobal Site: http://www.hino-global.com
Printed in Japan©Hino Motors, Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
copied or transmitted in any form or by any means.
The new HINO 700 series will make its world debut in Australia
in July 2008. You could call this a vehicle that makes new
assertions on what a truck should be. “We wanted to make a
truck that could fl exibly meet a broad range of demands. We
began this development project by conducting research in a
variety of countries to understand the types of customer needs
in these markets,” says Shinichi Takemasa, Chief Engineer
at HINO’s Product Development Division. People in different
countries use their trucks in different ways. The conditions a
truck is generally required to meet depend upon the things they
carry, the roads they drive on, and their hours of operation.
No matter how high the potential of a particular vehicle is, it
must be customized to meet specifi c needs in order to meet
the diverse range of demands of customers around the world.
This is not an exception even for HINO trucks that are known
for their excellent economic effi ciency, low fuel consumption,
durability, and driving performance as well as advanced
environmental performance. Takemasa says, “We must expand
the variation of products that meet our customers’ needs.
Trucks that we make must be based on a vision of future
vehicles that we can adapt quickly to changing market needs.
And the vehicle must be easy to fi t with bodywork as well as
be modifi ed locally in each market. To achieve these goals,
we adopted a modular design for the new 700 series.” Every
part and unit was commonized through modularization so that
these different parts could be put together to create a product
in a short amount of time, in any region of the world. Needless
to say, commonization of parts makes maintenance easier.
The idea of modular design as a way to facilitate assembly is
not a particularly new idea. However, modular design with a
performance perspective that gives builders the fl exibility to
combine components such as suspensions, accelerators and
fuel tanks to meet their customers’ needs is a result of Hino’s
idea. The new 700 series is built from the world’s leading-edge
modular design that combines assembly and performance
modules. Its dynamic styling embraces HINO’s grand aspiration
of becoming the “world’s benchmark for rationalized trucks
based on a solid vision of the future.”